Suction cleaning device for collapsible tubes



May I2, '1 953 SUCTION R. W- HOLBROOK CLEANING DEVICE FLOR COLLAPSIBLETUBES Filed July 24, 1948 IN V EN TOR.

RIM-PH W HOLBROOK BY L6 ZTTORN EY Patented May 12, 1953 SUCTION CLEANINGDEVICE FOR COLLAPSIBLE TUBES Ralph Wentworth Holbrook, New Albany, Ind.,assignor to Colgate-Palmolive-Peet Company, Jersey City, N. J., acorporation of Delaware Application July2 4, 1948, Serial No. 40,604

3 Claims." (01. 15-304) 1 The present invention relates to a device forcleaning collapsible tubes just prior to the filling operation, and moreparticularly to a cleaning attachment-for collapsible tube fillingmachines, Collapsible tubes are widely used for packaging dentifrices,creams, salves, etc. in which foreign particles such" as lint, pieces ofmetal, dirt, etc are highly undesirable. The present invention providesa cleaning device capable of being attached to existing filling machineswhich auto matically and effectively removes all such foreign particles.

The structure and advantages of the present invention will becomeapparent from the follow ing detaileddescription taken in conjunctionwith the drawing in which:

Fig. 1 is a; fragmentary front view of a collapsible tube fillingmachine, showing the device of the invention attached thereto;

Fi 2 is a side view of the device shown in 1 looking toward the left;

Fig. 3 is a top view of the air cleaner shown in Fig. 2; and

Fig. 4 is an enlarged detail view of amodified form of suction nozzle.Referring now to the drawing, numeral I represents a standard of afilling machine having a guide way 3 for a vertically reciprocatingfilling head 5. :Leading into filling head 5 are two feed lines liwhichconnect through a valve system in the. filling head. 5. with two fillingnozzles 9. Below the filling nozzles 9. is a conveyor belt or chain I Ihaving tubecups I3 mounted thereon and which is adapted to moveintermittently a distance corresponding to two of the base cups. Theparts thus fardescribed are elements jof a conventionaland well knowntype of collapsible tube filling machine, whose structure and operationare well known to those familiar with this art. Briefly stated, thefilling machine is provided with a drive mechanism for moving the chainas described to position two collapsible tubes in the inverted positionshown in the drawing below the filling nozzles 9. During the dwell inthe movement of the conveyor chain II, the filling head 5 is lowereduntil the filling nozzles 9 are a very short distance from the necks ofthe respective collapsible tubes. In this position the valvescontrolling the feed of the material with which the tubes are to befilled are automatically opened, and the head rises with the nozzles 9at a rate so correlated with the rate of flow of the material into thetubes, that the lower ends of the filling nozzles are substantially atthe level of the material at all times. When Fig.

tubes'and closes at about the time that the predetermined quantity ofmaterial has been flowed into the tubes, the valve mechanismautomatically shuts cit-and the head 5 rises to the upper limit of itsmovement so as to lift the filling nozzles 9 out of the path of thefilled tubes. The conveyor then moves to the left to position the nexttwo empty tubes under the filling nozzles.

The cleaning device of the invention is represented generally byreference numeral 20. It comprises a bracket 22 secured by bolts 24 tothe filling head 5 so that it reciprocates therewith. This bracketextends to the right of the standard I, as viewed in Fig. 1, a distancesuilicient to support a pair of suction nozzles 26 above the twocollapsible tubes which will be filled in the next filling operation.Each filling'nozzle is removably secured to an elbow 28, e. g., by athread such as that illustrated in Fig. 4. Each elbow 28 is secured toone end of a pipe 30. To the other'end is attached one end of a flexibletube 32. The other end of tub 32 is fastened to a valve 34 whichcontrols the flow of air into an air cleaner 36, which is connected bypipe 38 to a vacuum pump 40. The air cleaner is of conventional typehaving a cloth bag 42 to strain foreign particles from the air stream.The valve 34 is operably connected with the drive for the head 5 whichis so arranged that the valve opens as the lower ends of the suctionnozzles 26 approach the necks of the respective collapsible the headbegins its upward movement.

The suction nozzle 26 has a body portion 56 having a diameterapproximately A inch small er than the internal diameter of thecollapsible tube to be cleaned. It has been determined by' experimentthat the suction nozzle gives best results if the clearance between thebody portion thereof and the wall of the tube is about inch. Thisassures a sufiiciently rapid flow of air downwardly in the annular spacebetween the wall of the tube and the body portion of the suction nozzleto entrain any particles of dust or lint adhering to the tube wall and,by bringing the lower end of the nozzle within about inch of the neck ofthe tube, loose particles of metal or the like which fall into the neckof the tub are likewise sucked into the filling nozzle.

It is preferred to taper the lower end of the body portion 50, asillustrated at 52, to'facilitate entry of the suction nozzle into thecollapsible tube without damaging the open end. A convenient way ofmaking the suction nozzle is to provide a tube having adiametersuflicientand satisfactory results have been obtained with abody portion which is relatively short, Such a modification isillustrated in Fig. 4 in which the tube 54a is provided with arelatively short body portion 59a adjacent to the lower end thereof. Thetube 54a is provided with a' thread 56 at the upper end for attaching toan elbow 28.

Most commercial filling machines are adapted for filling tubes ofseveral diiierent diameters.

The present invention is adaptable to such machines by providing sets ofsuction nozzles having body portions of the desired diameter tocorrespend with the different sizes of collapsible tubes, and it-will beapparent that the cleaning device can bereadily changed iromthe set uprequired to.clean collapsible tubes of one size to another size byremoving one set of suctionwnozzles and replacing it with another.

While a clearance of about inch between the body. portionpf the suctionnozzle and the wall of the collapsible tube is preferred, the c1ear--ance may be somewhat less than this distance and still give satisfactoryresults. If the clearance is greater than inch the scrubbing action ofthe air stream downwardly through the annular space between the suctionnozzle and the.

collapsible tube is insufficient to remove lint and dust particlesadhering to the collapsible tube wall, unless the suction is greatlyincreased, and, where this is adopted, difficulty has been ens periencedin having the cleaning nozzle-littthe collapsible tube from the cupwhich supports it. When this occurs the neck of the collapsible tubeacts like a valve to shut off the flow of air into the suction nozzle,

The invention has been described and illus trated in connection with aspecific embodiment, but it will be apparent to those skilled in the artthat modifications and variations may be made without departing fromthescope of the invention as defined in the following claims.

. I claim:

1. A cleaning attachment for a collapsible tube filling machine whichcomprises a vertical guide, a bracket mounted for reciprocation in saidguide, a pipe mounted on said bracket, an elbow secured to one end ofsaidpipe, and .a downwardly extending suction nozzle removably securedto said elbow, said suction nozzle comprising a central tube ofrelatively small diameter having a straight section at least as long asthe collapsible tube to be cleaned and having its sole entrance for airat the lower end, and a closed cylindrical body portion of largerdiameter surrounding and secured to said central tube, saidbody portionbeing tapered at the end remote from the removable connection from thediameter of the body portion to the diameter of the central tube.

2. An apparatus for cleaning collapsible tubes having a threaded neckwith a cap attached at one end and being open at the other end, saidapparatus comprising conveyor means adapted to hold a plurality of said.open collapsible tubes in upright position with the neck end down and tomove them stepwise to a cleaning station, a

vertically reciprocable head, and a downwardly extending cleaning nozzlesecured to said head, 'said'cleaning nozzle comprising a central tube ofrelatively small diameter having a straight section at least'as long asthe collapsible tube to be cleaned and being adapted to be inserted intoa collapsible tube at the cleaning station until its lower end isclosely adjacent to the end adjacent to the neck when said head is atthe low point of its downward movement,-said central tube having itssole entrance for air atsaid lower end, and a closed cylindrical bodyportion of larger diameter surrounding and'securcd to said central tube,saidbody being tapered at. the lower end from the diameter, of. the bodyportion to the diameter of the central tube. I,

3.. A cleaningv attachment for a collapsible tube filling machine whichcomprises a vertical guide, a bracket mounted for reciprocation in saidguide, and a downwardlyextending suction nozzle removably secured tosaid bracket, said suction nozzle comprising a central tube ofrelatively small diameter having a straight section at least long as thecollapsible tube to be cleaned and having its sole; entrance for air atthe lower end,

and a closed cylindrical body portion of larger diameter surrounding andsecured to said central tube, said body portion being tapered at the endremote from theremovableconnection from the diameter of the'body portionto the diameter of -"References" Cited in'the file of this patentvUNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date Re. 22,392 Berthold Nov. 16,1943 48,948 Illingworth July 25, 1865 1,465,711 Gray Aug. 21, 19231,689,757 Taylor Oct. 30, 1928 1,863,755 Lodde June 21, 1932 2,066,283Wadman Dec. 29, 1936 2,193,999 Allen Mar. 19, 1940 2,206,959 Irish July9, 1940 2,237,699 Fechheimer Apr.'8,'1941 2,267,435 Thomas Dec. 23, 1941$298,475 Fechheimer Oct. 13, 1942 2,309,290 Aksomitas Jan. 26, 1943FQREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 24,548 Netherlands Feb. 15, 1932

